Middletown 2-15 St Malachy’s 3-12
A replay will be required to decide the winner of the Junior Hurling Championship as Middletown and St Malachy’s finished all square. Both sides had chances to win it, but in the end, a draw was probably a fair result.
When Paddy McArdle popped over a 70th minute free, it looked as though Middletown had done enough. But St Malachy’s had one last chance and James Hamill struck right between the sticks to tie things up.
Middletown had the better of proceedings during the opening half with the wind at their backs. They led 4-1 after ten minutes through Matthew Carvill, Charlie Lennon, Caionn Hughes and Liam McCann while Mairtin Creaney responded at the other end.
Hamill (free) and Joe McKeever (65) cut the deficit but their score were matched by Carvill and Ronnie Monahan. Hamill and Carvill traded scores before Charlie Lennon hit a brace of points for Middletown.
James Hamill had the final say of the first half and he shot over a free to close the gap to four-points. That was the last piece of action before the sides headed into the dressing rooms, with Middletown in front 0-9 to 0-5.
Second half
McKeever (free) closed the gap before Hamill slotted home the first of five second half goals. Hamill then put his team in front for the very first time while Joseph Breen followed it up with a quickfire 1-1.
Substitute Diarmuid Hughes ended Middletown’s dry spell before McKeever added another two to his tally. Eoin Livingstone got his name among the scorers for the Portadown side to make it a five-point game.
Christopher McCann grabbed a lifeline for Middletown with their first major while Creaney and McCann cancelled each other out. Charlie Lennon then struck 1-1 to edge Middletown back into the lead.
Hughes nabbed a second while St Malachy’s claimed a third goal, with Breen hitting home his second. McArdle and Hamill then matched each other with frees at the end to see the game finish all square.